The incorporation of flavorants in tobacco products is an important development in the tobacco industry due to the lowered aromaticity of the available tobacco and the increased preference of smokers for filter cigarettes and low delivery cigarettes.
A variety of organic compounds have been developed and proposed for incorporation as flavorants into tobacco products. Illustrative of such tobacco flavorants are those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,766,150; 3,180,340; 3,580,259; 3,625,224; 3,722,516; 3,750,674; 3,782,391; 3,854,485; 3,879,425; 3,881,025; 3,884,247; 3,890,981; 3,903,900; 3,914,451; 3,915,175; 3,920,027; 3,924,644; 3,937,228; 3,943,943; 3,586,387; and the like. The tobacco flavorants include compounds such as succinic anhydride; dihydroxyacetone; substituted pyridines; cinnamic derivatives; isovaleric acid; 6-methylhepta-3,5-dien-2-one; 2-butyl-2-butenal; 1,3-cyclohexadiene; alpha-pyrones; substituted butyrolactones; pyrazines and thiazolidines; and the like.
Of interest with respect to the present invention are various tobacco constituents which have been isolated and identified, as reported in Tobacco Science, 20, 43 (1976). Tobacco constituents having organoleptic properties include pyrrolidine derivatives of the following structure: ##STR2## where R is CHO, COCH.sub.3 or COCH.sub.2 CH(CH.sub.3).sub.2.
There is continuing research effort directed to the development of novel compounds which exhibit properties suitable for application as flavorants in edible and topical preparations and in smoking compositions.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide novel piperazine derivatives which exhibit flavorant properties.
It is a further object of this invention to provide smoking compositions which have incorporated an additive which exhibits flavorant properties under smoking conditions.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention shall become apparent from the accompanying description and examples.